Seth Perlman / AP Photo When it comes to cooking, there's always something a good cook can do with corn.

After I gave a lecture recently at Louisiana State University in Eunice, a woman in the audience came up to me and told me about her cornbread suppers. She and her husband and other couples have cornbread suppers every once in a while.

It made me remember Mama and Papa doing the same thing from time to time when I was a youngster. Everyone would bring a cornbread, and they gathered around the kitchen table to chat and enjoy their simple supper. Cans of Steen's 100 Percent Pure Cane Syrup were passed 'round and 'round the table, along with chunks of butter and jars of fig or pear preserves. Hot coffee milk and sometimes links of pork sausage completed the meal. Oh, how they talked and laughed, and sometimes critiqued the cornbread.

Ms. Rita's was always a little sweet. Mama's was a bit crunchy since she made it in an iron skillet. One with bits of bacon was the offering from Ms. Lil. Ms. Rowena's always had whole corn kernels and finely chopped onions (Papa's favorite).

A few days after the lecture, while I was hosting the Culture sur la Table tent at the Festivals Acadien et Creole, a college buddy and his wife told me about the couche-couche suppers that they have when the weather gets cooler, around this time of year.

How much fun, I thought. My cousin, Poochie, loves couche-couche, and when the cold wind blows she gets up earlier than usual and makes a big pot of the stuff. She calls me, my sister, her family and anyone else she can find, and we dig into the big pot of what is really nothing more than fried cornmeal.

Some like theirs swimming in hot cafe au lait, while others drizzle melted butter and cane syrup over it. I like mine with a fried egg, over easy, sitting on top with a couple of dashes of Tabasco.

Perhaps I'll start my own cornbread and/or couche-couche suppers in my neighborhood. My husband and I have one of those outdoor fireplaces and we could all huddle around it while we enjoy several kinds of cornbread, grilled pork sausage and a bowl of couche-couche. Maybe some Cajun chanky-chank music will get us really going!

Skillet cornbread

Makes 6 servings

2 cups yellow cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 large egg, beaten

1½ cups milk

2 to 3 tablespoons bacon grease or shortening

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg and milk and mix well. Do not beat.

Heat the bacon grease or shortening in a 9-inch skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium-high heat until it's almost smoking. Pour in the batter and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the edges begin to turn golden.

Place the skillet in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Let cool for a few minutes before slicing to serve.

Cheddar cheese cornbread

Makes 6 to 8 servings

1 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup corn oil

3 eggs

1½ cups white cornmeal

1½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 (12-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained

3 tablespoons half-and-half

1 small onion, chopped

1 small red bell pepper, chopped

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan. Mix together the first three ingredients in a large bowl.

Combine the cornmeal, baking powder, salt and baking soda and add to the buttermilk mixture.

Stir together the corn and half-and-half and add to the batter. Mix in the onion, bell pepper and sugar. Pour half of the batter into the baking pan. Top with the cheese. Pour in the remaining batter. Bake until browned and springy to the touch, about 40 minutes.

Mama's couche-couche

Makes 4 to 6 servings

2 cups yellow cornmeal

1½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1½ cups milk or hot water

3 to 4 tablespoons bacon drippings

Combine the cornmeal, salt, baking powder, milk or water in a bowl and mix to blend. The mixture will be like damp sand.

Heat the drippings in a cast-iron (preferably) medium-size or large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the corn meal mixture and allow a crust to form on the bottom, much like you would do to make cornbread (above). Reduce the heat to medium and cook, scraping the bottom of the pot with a metal spatula to stir and fold the crust, breaking up large lumps, until the mixture is golden brown and resembles crumbled cornbread, about 15 minutes. Serve hot.